In the past three weeks, five gay teens have committed suicide. It’s an unfortunate trend among gay teens that has people outraged.

Thirteen-year-old Seth Walsh, 13-year-old Asher Brown and 18-year-old Tyler Clementi are just some of the teenagers whose names are making headlines after taking their own lives as a result of severe harassment from their peers. They are just a few of the teens that have committed suicide in the past three weeks.

Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge after his college roommate posted video of him having a sexual encounter with another man. It is claimed that Clementi’s roommate, freshman Dharun Ravi, streamed the video live inviting others to watch the feed from the dorm room.

Brown shot himself after his family said he was “bullied to death” for being picked on for his small size and accusations of being homosexual. Brown’s parents say his death was the result of harassment from students at Hamilton Middle School in Houston.

Walsh died last week after spending nine days on life support from hanging himself. The teen took his own life after enduring relentless bullying.

“It’s absolutely devastating to see this happen and in such a short time frame and know that the things that led to these young people killing themselves is allowed to go on,” said James Bialk, vice president for the Gay Straight Alliance and work study student for the Gender & Sexuality Center.

The recent suicides have sparked a national debate and awareness about the treatment of gay youth.

“People use the Internet often times anonymously to just vent hatred and their ugliest thoughts and these use it in a way that obviously can turn out to be a tragedy,” Vice President for Student Affairs Mary Beth Snyder said.

Recently, there has been a tremendous outreach from celebrities to the gay community.

Ellen DeGeneres spoke to her viewers about the recent deaths, saying, “This needs to be a wake-up call to everyone that teenage bullying and teasing is an epidemic in this country and the death rate is climbing.”

For students who are struggling with gender and sexuality issues or feel like they may be a victim of harassment, offices on campus including the Gender and Sexuality Center, the Gay Straight Alliance and the Center for Multicultural Initiatives are open to all students.

“If they’re dealing with something that they just need to talk about, we’re here to listen and if it’s something that they need a little more help with, we have all kinds of references and referrals and be able to find ways to get them help,” Bialk said.

The Gender and Sexuality Center offers the S.A.F.E. program (Students, Administrators and Faculty for Equality.)

The S.A.F.E. program is dedicated to providing support to anyone who is dealing with sexual orientation or gender equality issues. Students who feel that they are being threatened or targeted are encouraged to seek help at any of the campus offices.

“People should let us know if they feel like they are being targeted,” Snyder said.

Oakland University is currently dealing with a harassment case in which specific students were targeted on Facebook.

“We’re trying to find out who’s behind it,” Snyder said. “You don’t have to look. You don’t have to be friends with the individual, and that’s where privacy issues get a bit skewed.”

Harassment cases on campus are taken very seriously. If the case does not meet the standards for some kind of a misdemeanor or felony charge, the case would go into the school conduct system where the student could be charged with harassment or face expulsion from school.

The GSC can be found in the basement of the Oakland Center or by calling coordinator Melissa Pope at 248-370-4333.